Raid Slayer 2

by Riley Morrison

  “That is why I have come, for we have a mutual enemy in the Janitor. We can work together to destroy him.”

  “Finally, you’ve said something that interests me.”

  The G Man’s eyes blinked. “First, you should know. We are still working on a way to get you out of the clutches of the Oligarchy, though our progress is slow.”

  “Good. But remember—I told you I have no interest in leaving the Underworld. I’m beginning to rather like it down here.” He forced a grin. “Once the Janitor is dead, I will be free to do whatever I want. And I haven’t been free in a long time.”

  The G Man sighed. “You will reconsider in time. For now, let’s deal with the Janitor. He must be neutralized before he can force you to do any more harm.”

  “Go on.”

  “Our double agents who work inside the development team for Aralia Online are well aware of the Janitor but can do nothing to stop him, as his pay grade is well above theirs. However, they have come up with a way for you to remove him from the game, at least for a time.”

  Zack couldn’t help but show his eagerness. “Tell me how to kill him.”

  “These developers have devised decoys of you and your harem. These decoys will move to perform your most recent assassination mission while you and the women with you will go to the hidden resistance armory and retrieve two things. One, a Control Blocker that will prevent the Janitor taking control of your NPCs. And Two, the Containment Core that will stop the Janitor from escaping your trap.”

  Zack’s heart fluttered. That first item was exactly what he needed to make sure Amy, Betsy and Missy were safe.

  “The decoys will activate as soon as you leave here and will buy you time to get to the armory that is located in the randomly generated content you have passed through once before. Be warmed, there will be a powerful boss monster guarding it, so you will need all your wits about you.”

  “Fine. Fine. How long will the decoys give me to find these items?”

  “For as long as the timer on your quest.”

  Four days.

  “What about Anita? The Janitor said he had her body under lockdown. He is threatening to have her mother and sister murdered by her asshole of a father.” Zack quickly told the G Man about the Janitor’s threat against Anita.

  “You need not worry about your orc lover. I have personally ordered our fighters to secure her game-pod with her inside it and bring it to a safe location. As to her family… We will begin work on locating her mother and sister and will ensure their safety.”

  Zack studied the G Man. Could he be trusted? Could his mother?

  “Does my mother know you have done this? She didn’t seem to care about Anita or her family.”

  “You’re mother won’t care. She loves you, Zack and if us protecting Anita’s family gets you to work with us, then she will be more than happy to have us protect them.”

  There seemed to be little choice in the matter. He had no way of knowing if the G Man would come good on his promises or that his mother wouldn’t put a stop to things. He had to take that risk, as the G Man was offering a way to kill the Janitor.

  “Thank you,” Zack said. “I need Anita. I can’t do this without someone else who understands the enormity of what we face.”

  “You can thank me by killing the Janitor.” The G man began to fade like he had last time, meaning his time with Zack was near done. “Once you have retrieved the two items from the armory, return to the palace and confront the Janitor there. That is your territory and you must defend it. Use everything you have at your disposal—and kill him.”

  “Before you leave, how will I know where the armory is located? What does it look like?”

  The G man was gone before he could answer.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Sludge

  When they were safe in Missy’s bedroom, Zack told the women what just happened. He assumed the G Man had told the truth and that they were off the Janitor’s radar for the next four days as the decoys moved to the assassination target. After he had told them all that, he briefly took Anita aside to tell her that the resistance was working on saving her mother and sister.

  Anita glowered at him. “No offense, but why should I trust this glowing asshole? Your mother tried to kill me.”

  “Well, either way you look on it, we need help in killing the Janitor. Plus, what I just said, should have triggered his alarms and sent him here to kill us.” He glanced at Missy, Betsy and Amy so Anita would know what he meant, feeling intense rage that the NPC women he loved were being used against him as spies.

  She glanced at the three women and rolled her eyes. “Well, fuck. This better work or I’m going to kill the nearest man I can find.”

  “Ah, that would be me.”

  “Other than you, obviously.”

  Whey Zack and Anita returned to the others, Amy frowned at him. “There seems to be more going on than you are telling us. It’s making me feel like you don’t trust us or something.”

  Missy and Betsy nodded in agreement. Zack’s heart ached at the hurt in their eyes.

  Zack went over and wrapped them all in his arms. “Please don’t look at me that way. I trust all of you with my life.” He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, wishing the developers hadn’t made everything have to feel so real. “But there are things I am forbidden from telling you. When the Janitor is no longer a threat to us, I will tell you everything.”

  He got to his knees, holding Amy’s hand. “I promise you, I will tell you everything. Just give me time.”

  Her face softened. “I can’t be angry at you. I know you would have told us the truth if you could.”

  Zack looked away. Had she said that because she meant it or was it the harem system forcing her to not be angry at him? In the end, did it matter? It was how she felt.

  He stood, turning back to them. “Once I tell you the truth… If you feel the need to go your own way.” He stumbled over the words, then finally got them out. “I won’t stop you from leaving me.”

  That made Betsy burst into tears. She hugged him. “I will never leave you, no matter the truth. I know you love me and I know I love you and that’s all that matters.”

  Missy’s singsong voice filled his ears. “You are my sweet song, my blessed high note, your music fills me with joy. No matter what, I will be with you.”

  Zack pulled her to him and stroked her long hair. Amy grinned. “Before I was sent down here with you, life was so, so boring. Now I get to kill stuff, loot corpses and make love to the sexiest man in all of the Underworld. She wrapped him, Betsy and Missy in her arms.

  “Fuck if I’m going to miss out on a group hug,” Anita said and crash-tackled them all onto the bed.

  They all held one another until they slipped off to sleep. Zack stared up at the ceiling, listening to the women breathing around him.

  He would sleep for no more than four hours, then they had to get a move on.

  After placing 450 meals in storage they ported to the Drunken Fop Tavern. A day from there, they stood at the edge of the random gen zone—the Shifting Labyrinth.

  Zack, Anita and Missy had been there before but this time the area looked completely different. Instead of dark, frozen, twisting caves, the area began at a huge, broken stone door. Black sludge spilled from the entrance like dirty engine oil and an eerie green light shone from inside, a foul smell wafting around them.

  “Looks pretty messed up in there.” Amy screwed up her face, watching as a long gooey drop of sludge dripped from the ceiling. “I hope it washes off.”

  Anita pulled down her faceguard, torch in one hand, sword in the other. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Zack raised his shield, his arm not quite as long as it used to be yet, but strong enough to block with. “Stay behind me.”

  He took the lead, feeling good about himself. He was the one at the front again, the one who would protect them.

  Betsy and Anita walked close behind him as the other two
came up behind them. They hadn’t gone far when Zack felt some sludge plop down on his helmet. He glanced at Amy and Missy and found them both trying to get the stuff out of their hair. They were the only ones without helmets.

  Missy pulled back her hand, long goo dripping from her fingers. “This place is rotten, it’s foul song that of the festering trash heap.”

  Some sludge ran down Amy’s face. She brushed it off contemptuously, then poked her tongue out at Zack. “The things I do for love. You still owe me a round of lovemaking of a lifetime, now you owe me two rounds of it!”

  He laughed and trudged on, his boots squishing with every step.

  The deeper they entered the sludge encrusted passages, the worse the smell became. It truly did smell like rot, like they were entering the gray-black sludge at the bottom of a public trashcan back in the old days when people ate with their mouths and not through tubes.

  Whatever it took, he would keep going, for to do otherwise would see the women he loved dead and Anita’s mother and sister murdered.

  Several times they came to dead ends and had to double back to try a new path. All the while, the tunnels remained silent except for the occasional splat of a drip of sludge falling from the roof.

  The place was a labyrinth and they grew ever more lost. Then Missy stopped them, her fingers absently playing a soft, soothing tune. “I know where the armory is.” She pointed at a small opening to their left, one of six in the room with them. “We go that way.”

  “You sure?” Zack asked, recalling what the G Man had said about Missy recalling the location at the right time.

  “I am certain.” Missy started into the passage.

  Zack raced over and got in front of her, trusting in her word. After more than an hour, they came to an opening about a hundred feet across. Black goo bubbled up from the ground in several places, the oily sludge running into a black pool that filled half the chamber. On the far side, there appeared to be another tunnel leading away from them.

  “Looks like we have to walk through it,” Zack said. “We’re going to get dirty.”

  “I love being dirty, just not in this way.” Amy’s laugh was forced.

  “I wonder how deep it is.” Betsy held Zack’s arm. “I’m not sure I can swim.”

  He found a clean spot on her cheek and kissed it. “You’ll be fine.”

  Zack entered the pool and was relieved to find it only knee deep. The others followed him in without hesitation and they slowly made their way forward.

  The sludge had the consistency of mud and took a lot of effort to walk through. “Better not get any deeper,” Anita said when they were up to their waists.

  “I’m more worried there is something in here with us.”

  That made them all look nervously around.

  About halfway across, Zack drank some water, then handed the bottle around. It was hard work forcing his way through the sludge and already he was feeling worn out. They had done with little sleep for too long.

  The women all took a drink. Missy put the bottle in his Inventory and continued forward. Suddenly, the sludge bubbled next to her and a moment later she was pulled under.

  Zack’s heart leapt into his throat. “Missy!” He desperately hurled himself toward where she had disappeared. Even her HP had faded out, so he couldn’t see if it was declining.

  Amy was already there, feeling under the surface. “I can’t find her.”

  Betsy came with Zack. “Missy, where are you?” Her voice was filled with panic.

  Zack kicked around the bottom of the pool and felt nothing but the rock under them. Anita searched to their left, while Betsy to their right.

  Oh, god, where is she? It’s already been close to a minute. How much longer can she hold her breath?

  Something kicked against his leg. Zack reached under the surface, his face entering the muck. He grabbed whatever was there, then wrenched upward and found himself grasping Missy’s arm.

  He hauled her to her feet. Completely covered in black oil, it didn’t look like Missy standing there. She gasped in air, blinded by the sludge. “I’m here, baby.” He wrapped his arms around her. “It’s alright.”

  Her HP bar was back and near full.

  Something loomed up behind her. Zack went to move but the thing swept over them like a breaking wave and he was sucked under the surface, slamming hard against the bottom. With his weaker arm, he kept hold of Missy as something pulled them along, their backs grinding against the bottom. Then his head struck something hard, and his field of view flashed.

  -42hp

  Whatever had him was trying to pull him into a hole in the wall but he wouldn’t fit. It soon let him go and Zack managed to get to his knees and haul Missy and himself back to their feet.

  Gasping in air, he swiped the goo from his eyes and found Anita, Amy and Betsy hurrying toward him. “Where is it?” Anita roared, holding her sword above the surface.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t even see what it was.” He handed Missy to Betsy, then had to swipe more goo from his eyes. He had them all move away from the hole in the wall in case that was where the creature had come from.

  Soon they reached the far end of the pool and struggled to climb onto the rock at the edge. When they were all up, they huddled together, Zack with his arm around Missy. She leaned into him, both of them looking like part of the sludge. “We made it, my love.”

  Missy only nodded.

  Zack turned his attention to finding a way out and continuing on, but the tunnel he had seen from the other side of the pool was gone. He swore under his breath, trying to think if there was another passage behind them that they hadn’t gone down.

  He couldn’t remember seeing one.

  When he turned back to the pool of sludge, he froze. The surface was churning.

  The bubbling goo out in the center of the chamber exploded upward in giant jets of black, coating the roof and spraying them all.

  Then something rose up out of the pool, a glistening, bubbling figure, like a dripping wet stick figure wearing liquid armor. It stood ten-feet-tall and had arms twice as long as its legs. Two solid jet black eyes peered out from the dripping face, the reflection of Zack’s torch lighting them with a fel glow.

  The creature spoke. “Drown in my excrement, rot inside my festering heart, join me forever.”

  BLIGHTED ENT

  HP: 10000/10000

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Ent

  Zack raised his shield and moved to the edge of the rock. “Stay out of the sludge and let it come to us.” There was no time for buff bread.

  Amy started blasting the Blighted Ent with her spells. As it loomed over them, Zack leapt into the sludge and taunted it off her. Throwing out a Demon Strike and then a Criss Cross, he made sure he had good aggro on it before he swung it to face away from the group.

  He kept it near the edge so Anita and Betsy could attack it from behind without having to climb into the black soup.

  The Blighted Ent swung its long arms at him, slamming them against his shield, hammering his sides. Its limbs were like twisted tree roots, but covered in muck. He used his trinket’s damage reductions buff to lower the damage.

  With the buff, the damage wasn’t too bad but he doubted it would stay that way when the effect wore off.

  -58hp

  -56hp

  The Blighted Ent’s attacks were rapid, slamming into him from one side, then the other. It was hard to block them as when the limbs struck, they looped around behind his shield. In between its attacks, Zack dealt as much damage as he could. He tried not to use too many abilities so he could conserve Stamina just in case the boss did anything crazy and he had to use defensive measures or go nuts with his abilities to draw back aggro.

  The creature looked down at him through its solid black eyes.

  Then the sludge parted and a mouth formed. “Join me, liquefy your flesh and join the drowned ones.”

  It clasped its hands together and raised them over its head.


  Zack used his Shield Block damage reduction buff and covered himself with his shield.

  The arms came down, driving him to his knees. He was showered in a curtain of muck, his shield acting like an umbrella.

  He couldn't see beyond the wall of black, nor could he raise his weapon as the creature slowly leaned down on his shield, trying to drive his head under the surface.

  “Get off me,” Zack roared, exerting all his strength to not buckle under the pressure.

  This was hell. One of the worst boss fights he’d ever endured and made all the worse as his own life and that of the women he loved was on the line.

  Then the pressure eased and with a sucking sound, the arms withdrew.

  Zack cowered under his shield, glancing around the edge to make sure the arms weren’t going to come crashing down again. The boss drew back its left arm, then lashed him across the face.

  -78hp

  The other arm came back to attack him from the other side.

  -75hp

  Baring his teeth, Zack stood and resumed his attacks. The creature’s special move was over. He hoped that was the only one it had. If so, the fight was a pretty basic (but messy) tank and spank.

  The mouth appeared again. Oh, shit, what now?

  “I will drag you all under,” The Blighted Ent said as more arms sprouted from its body.

  They twisted and writhed, long fingers grasping. Then they reached for Zack, the long fingers encircling him.

  Screaming, Zack was lifted into the air. But he was not the only one. One of the other hands had grabbed Amy, lifting her in the air beside Zack.

  She didn’t seem to care, she blasted the Blighted Ent with her spells, a giant grin on her face, her dragon pet flying up to stick beside her.

  Then the boss dunked them under the surface and slammed them into the bottom of the pool.